Last week, Raise Partners and Vietcetera co-hosted Vietnam’s first ESG investor conference at the New World Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City.
Over the course of two days, speakers and panelists from across the private and public sectors discussed topics including securing development capital through an ESG lens, investing in decarbonization and Vietnam’s energy transition, and leveraging international resources for carbon market development.
“We had three goals with this conference,” said Mimi Vu, co-founder of Raise Partners. “Present ESG-lens investing in the Vietnam context across various sectors by hearing from different experts and stakeholders; identify investment opportunities within the many challenges faced by Vietnam; and connect potential investors and companies.”
Speakers covered the range from international development partners and corporations to financial institutions, venture capital funds, and startups.
They included the ambassador of Belgium to Vietnam, the consul generals of Australia and the Netherlands, and high-level representatives from businesses and financial institutions such as KPMG, Loc Troi Group, Marou Chocolate, HSBC Vietnam, Nestle, and LEGO.
Dynam Capital and Vietnam Holding was lead sponsors of the conference, and executive chairman Craig Martin delivered the opening keynote on ‘ESG Investment Criteria in Vietnam for Institutional Investors’.
He noted the opportunities inherent in the country’s ongoing urbanization, which will call for huge growth in housing, supermarkets, and other necessities of modern urban life, as well as the attendant challenges given the massive amounts of concrete and other resources this expansion will require.
Craig advised investors to use ESG as a screen to separate “the great companies from the good, and the good from the bad” when determining potential investments. And he called on companies to “do more, measure more, and report more” in order to effectively pursue ESG goals.
Later that morning Tran Phuong Ngoc Thao, Vice Chairperson of the Board of Directors and
Head of ESG Committee at PNJ, took part in a fireside chat on how ESG is a marathon, not a sprint.
“Our sustainable development mindset right from the beginning is to integrate the interests of society and other stakeholders into our business interests,” she said. “That has always been our cornerstone, our strong foundation for our development journey.”
Thao also discussed the importance of learning new corporate best practices as PNJ’s aims transitioned from broad sustainable development to more focused ESG goals.
“Our ESG journey officially started last year when the board of directors decided to from the ESG committee because proper leadership is so important to the future of the company,” she said. “The first step we do is set up the right governance because to transition from just practicing sustainable development as a requirement into being proactive, we need strong leadership and engagement from all stakeholders.”
On the afternoon of the conference’s second day, attendees split into two groups for a pair of workshops on the topics of ESG in agriculture and rural development, and ESG in manufacturing and industry.
In the latter session, Tran Phuong Nga, CEO of Thien Long Group, shared her company’s vision to be fully engaged in ESG and transmit this vision to customers.
“We must share data and show measurements for exports to 70 countries,” she said. “Meanwhile, we produce 1 billion products with many parts, and managing quality is a challenge.”
While tackling this challenge head-on, TLG has introduced a range of eco-friendly products across its destination markets. Nga admitted that these products tend to be more expensive than older items, but on the production side, the company has found ways to offset their cost.
“For example, we use lower-cost processes or materials where possible to offset the higher cost items, so we can sustainably produce more environmentally friendly products,” she said.
Reflecting on the theme of the conference as a whole, Mimi said: “ESG is about intentionality and mindfulness; it is a deep and broad understanding of the literal and figurative environment in which you’re operating as an investor or a company, conditions that may positively or negatively affect your business outcomes, how to mitigate risk, and how to capitalize on opportunities that can help resolve social and environmental challenges that negatively affect the economy. ESG is just good and basic business practices that any successful investor or businessperson should adopt.”
Writing credit Michael Tatarski
